The system is now set up for a transfer of power that no longer requires or is reflective of the will of the people. The privatization of what ought to remain a public election system in the United States has led to the widespread acceptance of simulated democracy.

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January 23, 2006

The American people continue to be lied to. The 2004 election was gamed in favor of George W. Bush using unsafe electronic voting machines and a multitude of voter suppression techniques designed to negate get-out-the-vote efforts by the opposition party. Despite being witness to gross malfeasance in this administration, politicians and the national corporate media continue to believe Bush handlers would stop at rigging elections to grab hold of and then hang onto power.

As well, leading progressive voices (e.g., Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington, Moveon.org, The Nation, Mother Jones, Salon, and others) refuse to acknowledge that the Democratic candidate actually won the presidency in the 2004 election. Americans have grown accustomed to the lies perpetrated by the media on behalf of the Bush administration, but it's tough to accept denial from those on the left who appear otherwise dialed in. One can only assume an anti-Bush environment is more profitable for them. A few notable exceptions include Mark Crispin Miller, Bob Fitrakis and Greg Palast, all of whom continue to be ridiculed for exposing the truth about rigged elections and voter suppression.

Just as BushCo will stop at nothing now because they have the elections ‘in the bag,’ the Democrats don't have to put forth much effort to challenge them because they know voters have no other viable option. Democratic leadership can sit back and wait it out until power in all its glory is once again bestowed upon them. This is where two-party politics and corporate representation in Congress have taken American democracy.

The truth is voters turned out in record numbers in 2004 to remove the Republican candidate from power, and they succeeded. Had not voting machines been rigged to favor Bush over his opponents, or had not a disproportionate number of Democratic, mainly urban voters been disenfranchised, the outcome of the election would have reflected the true intent and will of the majority of Americans. Kerry did win. The proof is in the numbers. It took former President Jimmy Carter five years to acknowledge that Al Gore was the candidate of the people in Florida in the 2000 election. Evidently, a widely held belief that in America the people’s choice on Election Day is what matters is nothing more than a myth.

The system is now set up for a transfer of power that no longer requires or is reflective of the will of the people. The privatization of what ought to remain a public election system in the United States has led to the widespread acceptance of simulated democracy. With the “fix” now in place, those responsible for the largest suppression of votes in history have become cheerleaders for greater voter turnout in all-electronic voting machine states and counties. Their intent is disingenuous.

In this regard, of great concern are new requirements outlined in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) effective this month involving the centralization of the voter registration rolls. Other than a few, most states have turned to private vendors to manage their centralized voter registration databases rather than manage them in-house, and most states have chosen one, maybe two vendors to perform the work, except for Ohio. The scheme to centralize the voter rolls there is as concerning as Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is partisan and a GOP candidate for governor.

While Congress (HAVA) allocated $3 billion taxpayer dollars to update voting equipment as a result of the Florida coup, what continues to not be managed well is communicating important information to the voters at the local level. Registration concerns and lack of information on precinct locations were issues that voters had the most difficulty with on November 2, 2004. Local election officials are finding it difficult to accept blame, and practically nobody is looking in the direction of the private vendors who primarily manage the elections process from registration to central tabulation.

Not only will vendors continue to control the counting of votes by electronic voting systems, these private companies will also ultimately control who is allowed to vote especially in precincts where public elections officials who maintain some oversight of county lists are asleep on the job. Unless a problem is identified, elections clerks are bound to not go looking for one, but the reality is elections can be won or lost by wrongful purges of the voter rolls, as in Florida in 2000.

Additionally, given the cozy relationship between industry and all branches of government, other agencies may gain easier access to the centralized databases without public knowledge, which could lead to even further wrongful harassment and purges of voters suspected or accused of being 'illegally' registered. Primary information listed in the databases includes name, address and political party affiliation of the voter.

The largest purges of voter rolls occur just prior to federal elections, especially in presidential elections. Therefore, it may not be until the 2008 presidential election campaign that the full effect of the centralized voter registration databases is realized.

George W. Bush claimed a 3.5 million popular vote victory over John Kerry, but it is impossible to know how many voters were turned away at the polls in 2004 because their names were mysteriously purged off the rolls or their registrations were never processed, which they discovered only when they showed up to vote in what they believed to be their assigned community precincts. It is, however, estimated that millions of voters were denied the right to vote on Election Day in 2004.

The never-ending problems with voter registration has led to a greater dependence on provisional ballots, which are merely a placebo to treat the problem, as are voter verified paper trails if votes continue to be cast and counted electronically. As was apparent in Ohio, elections officials can change the voting precincts at the last minute and shuffle voters around, or just close them prior to Election Day in an effort to make provisional ballots worthless.

Another more common practice nationwide has been to move voters who have not voted in the last two elections to an "inactive" status so that local governments are able to pass tax levies in elections. While this may seem a harmless course of action in order to keep public schools and fire departments operational, the practice is now easily exploited to suppress votes in elections where every vote matters.

One way to verify election results is by conducting scientific exit polling, which has provided the nation with at least one such reliable check and balance against final vote tallies for decades, but in Bush era elections, an attempt to discredit the reliability of exit polling has so far succeeded.

Even though various politicos and national editors have denounced GOP voter suppression tactics, they fail to examine the full effect this form of cheating has had on voter morale. They also fail to discuss a fair remedy. Make no mistake about it: denying a legally registered voter the right to vote is cheating. In mean-spirited fashion, Republican mouthpieces continue to make the case that it is the voters and partisans at the local level who are to blame for unfair elections ignoring voter suppression and disenfranchisement altogether. Power-hungry Republicans will continue to get away with wholesale election fraud in 2006 unless the American people put up the biggest fight of their lives to stop them.

Those intent on stealing elections can hide the ballots and the vote counting, but if Americans turn out in large numbers to vote on Election Day they will be unable to hide the bodies, the proof required to contest the phony numbers spit out by the machines programmed by voting equipment vendors. It is time to put all public officials promoting or using unsafe voting systems on notice that they are breaking the law and that must stop.

Over the next nine months, it is important for people to check their registration status often especially in those states that rely solely on electronic voting machines to conduct elections. If possible, voters should obtain proof of registration prior to Election Day from the Boards of Elections offices. Do not wait until September or October to do so, although it is imperative to make one final check prior to the close of registration before the November election.

For groups involved in voter registration drives, the entire process must be thoroughly documented so that registration forms are processed accurately and in a timely manner. Follow through with the processing of registration applications if possible. Don't become the scapegoat the voter antagonists look for to divert attention from their unscrupulous actions.

If voters discover they have been moved to an “inactive” list, they must request to be returned to an "active" voting status at the Boards of Elections. If direct-record electronic voting machines (DREs) are the only option to cast a ballot, request an absentee ballot, which may be turned into the Boards of Elections offices on Election Day, as long as it is legal to do so. Volunteer on Election Day or at a minimum stop by and observe the process.

Encourage communities to work together to pressure local election officials to make precinct information readily available to voters prior to the election, and hold them accountable if they’re not doing their jobs well. Do not allow the voting process on Election Day to fade away. Make it a point to show up and exercise the right to vote with family, friends and neighbors.

The public must dig deep in order to find the collective willpower required to stop election fraud and end privatization of public elections even as politicians and the media continue to lie about it or deny the truth while staring a criminal administration straight in the face.

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KAT L'ESTRANGE has been involved in the movement for fair elections and legitimate government since the 2000 election immediately following the controversial Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore on 12/12/00. She became actively involved in the fight against continued voter suppression and disenfranchisement in Ohio after the 2004 election. She has organized national and regional book tours for Greg Palast and Dr. Bob Fitrakis, and produced The BRAD SHOW with host Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com. She currently works as a production assistant for Dorothy Fadiman, an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Kat is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces having served honorably in both the United States Air Force and California Air National Guard from 1978 to 1985. She received a B.A. in Media Communication from California State University, Sacramento. She currently resides in Eugene, Oregon and can be reached via e-mail at kinc@efn.org

Submitter: Joan Brunwasser

Submitters Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Submitters Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.